According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Patriots advanced scout was actually the one being filmed — for a feature titled, “Do Your Job.” He was credentialed and cleared by Cleveland’s media relations staff to shoot B-roll video from the press box.
According to a new report from The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr., the video crew taped eight minutes of footage of the Bengals sideline, including hand signals as players ran on and off the field.
Late Monday night, the Patriots acknowledged in a statement their production contractors “inappropriately filmed the field from the press box.” New England maintained it was not on purpose.
MORE: What to know about Patriots’ videotaping incident so far
According to The MMQB’s Albert Breer, neither the Bengals nor the NFL were informed of the videographer in the press box, which led Cincinnati to alert league officials to have the situation investigated. Breer also reported this is part of a larger video series New England is filming.
The skepticism surrounding this goes without saying considering New England’s history of illegally taping opposing teams to gain an advantage. In a lengthy feature by ESPN, which detailed the 2007 Spygate scandal, former New England video assistant Matt Walsh told investigators that one of the criteria for filming would be to explain they are filming for a “team show,” the same qualification here.
The (1-12) Bengals, who were in Cleveland for an AFC North matchup, face the (10-3) Patriots next Sunday in Cincinnati.
